The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
I always hated moving boxes filled with books. As a student, especially as an English major in university, it seemed like I had a constant stream of boxes that needed to be packed a few times a year. I had books that needed to go home to Snow Lake. I had books that I needed in Winnipeg. I had other boxes that moved a few times a year when I went from apartment to apartment. Until I started moving every year, I had no idea how heavy boxes filled with paper could be. Now, down in my basement and scattered across other rooms of my house, I have bookshelves filled with many of these same books. I still love to read although I now seem to have trouble finding the time to do it. I always have at least a book or two on the go and always have one stuffed in a bag when I travel. My wife is the same way. She reads faster than I do and can get through a few novels in a week, but she has far less trouble carrying books around because most of her reading is done on her laptop. She buys ebooks, novels that she can download and read right off of her screen. She gets the same books, just as fast as they appear on store shelves. Without the need for an actual paper copy to be produced and shipped, she buys from publishers for a fraction of the price. As well, she has no trouble lugging around several hundred books with her everywhere she goes as they are all crammed onto the hard drive of her computer. Reading is one of those things that a lot of people have a strong opinion about. Many of us have memories of curling up on our parents' laps with books or having our own children do the same. We can't imagine curling up with a computer instead, but the fact is that novels, in the form we know them, have not really been around for very long. Scrolls, or sheets of paper attached together on the ends, have been around much longer. If publishers think they are in a business that cannot change, they should look at the music and movie industries, which are perfect examples of what happens when companies fight with their customers. I know who wins that battle, and let's just say that it doesn't look good if you sue the people who buy your product and then expect them to spend more of their money on you. Information is changing, coming at us from all sorts of directions. I know people who listen to a lot more audio books than read them. For the record, I've tried it, and I don't like it. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to find the hours to sit and listen to an audio book. When I have my iPod on, I'm often doing something else like shovelling snow or mowing the lawn, and then I'm not paying much attention to what's going on in my ears. There is also an enormous amount of stuff available online for free. If you are interested in classic books, you never need to buy another one again. On their website, Project Gutenberg has published thousands of classics that are out of copyright, and you can download them for free. Librivox has done the same thing with audio books. You can download hundreds of classics and listen to them when you want. If you want the latest releases in audio, iTunes and Audible.com will let you buy and listen for reasonable prices. What's next? Several companies are working on what they are calling e-paper. Basically very thin screens, e-paper can be rolled up or shoved into a backpack without being harmed. Newspapers and novels will be able to be downloaded directly onto it, updating as new editions come out. E-paper will also be able to hold full motion video, allowing newspapers to include video in what they put out. So the fact is that reading and books are changing, but really, they always have. We're used to what we have right now, but if you are looking towards what might be coming out, check out the Amazon Kindle. ([email protected]) Tech Notes runs Mondays.
